Leinster survive late Toulon scare to book Final spot

MATCH REPORT: Leinster booked their place in the Final of the Champions Cup after holding off a ferocious fight-back effort by Toulon in Dublin on Saturday, clinching the semifinal by 29-25.

It was incredible drama at the death, but Leinster is heading to Bilbao, where they last lifted the trophy.

Leinster reached three successive finals but fell to a shock defeat by Northampton in the final four last season.

The hosts got the first big decision of the afternoon after winning a penalty at scrum time and they wasted no time and going for posts. It was a semifinal after all and knock-out rugby is all about taking any and all points on offer.

But Harry Byrne did not have the confidence booster as he pulled it wide despite being in the middle of the pitch.

The French had a very nervy start to the game.

Tommy O’Brien was clearly not nervous as he jumped out of the line and nailed Melvyn Jaminet and the Dublin crowd loved that one.

Then the boot was on the other foot as Melvyn Jaminet got a shot at a three-pointer seven minutes in and he also missed his shot to get on the scoreboard.

The breakdown was fiercely contested but Leinster won the ball and Jamison Gibson-Park found grass. Tomas Albornoz cleared but Leinster just came at them again.

It was the perfect opportunity deep in Toulon’s half for the Irish side. Toulon just couldn’t handle the speed of the hosts as they were playing short and then long. It was Jack Conan who forced his way across the whitewash, carrying a couple of Toulon players with him.

Byrne landed the conversion to take their lead to 7-0.

Play was halted after Robbie Henshaw was knocked out cold, replaced by Jamie Osborne.

Toulon, who were yet to impose anything on the game, won a penalty instantly and this time Jaminet made sure of the kick at goal.

But Leinster wasted no time in visiting Toulon’s front porch from the kick-off. Porter was huge in the drive after they unleashed Rieko Ioane down the wing. Porter popped to Jamison Gibson-Park, who duly scored.

But a TMO revision indicated that the Nr.9 knocked the ball behind the ruck before diving over for the try and the five points were scratched off.

Tomás Albornoz cleared from behind the scrum five metres out and relieved some pressure for the French.

Yet they were back in their red zone, on the five metre line, after a magnificent kick by Byrne but Toulon’s Ben White managed to get the ball away after scrambling to clear.

Caelan Doris was pinged for hands in the ruck and Jaminet closed the gap to 6-7.

But the one-point lead was short-lived as Leinster dominated territory once more, and Josh van der Flier scored after another Leinster penalty. They opted to tap and the rest is history.

After 34 minutes, Toulon finally worked their way into the hosts’ half.

Under pressure, Leinster gave away a penalty and to make things worse, a TMO call revealed head contact by Porter, and he got his marching orders.

Just before halftime, this was massive for Toulon.

From the lineout five metres out, Toulon went at it and ended in Setariki Tuicuvu, who dived over in the far corner.

Following the referee’s warning of cynical play, Byrne also received a yellow card and Leinster were down to 13 players and leading by 14-11.

Leinster were scrambling from the kick-off, barely holding on to possession in front of their posts.

Gibson-Park cleared effectively, but the pressure was on and Toulon was smelling blood.

Somehow, Leinster managed to survive and headed into the shed still leading by a small margin.

In the first half Leinster were by far the better team, but their error rate kept Toulon in the game, resulting in a slender three-point lead at half-time.

Leinster got right back to knocking on the door in the second half, despite their numerical disadvantage.

As they edged forward, there was a high tackle on Van der Flier by Teddy Baubigny and the hooker was sent off.

Immediately after Garry Ringrose grabbed Leinster’s third try, who couldn’t convert in the absence of Byrne.

Porter was back on the pitch and it was 14 versus 14, Leinster leading by 19-11.

Van der Flier went off for an HIA but Byrne returned to the action. Barely back, he managed to add three more points to their tally.

Leinster’s defence was outstanding and coach Jacques Nienaber would be smiling.

Jack Conan limped off and Alex Soroka was on.

Toulon had 20 minutes to produce some magic.

But Leinster were in full control as they attacked with fervour once more. They won an advantage five metres in, and the crowd were on their feet. They sensed the victory was within in their grasp.

But Toulon desperately made the tackles.

Porter went on the rampage and then Doris got over. Leinster celebrated, maybe prematurely. Could Toulon fight back, trailing by 18 points in ten odd minutes?

Toulon gave it their all. And they did it. They got the try, courtesy of Baptiste Serin and they had a lifeline.

Jaminet added the extras, thereby closing the gap to 18-29.

There was ten minutes left to play.

Jaminet had a great break in midfield as they went into the Leinster half. Nacho Brex also had a run, but the ball was won back by the hosts.

Then Sam Predergast had a brain fart as Gaël Dréan simply stepped around him to score.

Three minutes left on the clock, it was a four-point game.

The brilliance of Jaminet was yet again on display as he made a clean break, just for Dréan to lose the ball forward. Who was writing this script?

Leinster won a penalty with two minutes to go inside their own half after a no-arms tackle.

They kicked for touch on the halfway mark. They just had to keep the ball.

They were winding down the clock, stretching out the phases. And the ball was sent into the stands and they were in the final.

Player of the Match: Andrew Porter, who was gigantic in the scrums, took the ball up like a centre and defended like a demon.

Scorers:

For Leinster:
Tries: Conan, Van der Flier, Doris, Ringrose
Cons: Byrne 3
Pens: Byrne

For RC Toulon:
Tries: Tuicuvu, Serin, Dréan
Cons: Jaminet 2
Pens: Jaminet 2

Yellow cards: Andrew Porter (for Leinster, 35’ – head contact); Harry Byrne (for Leinster, 37’ – repeated infringement); Teddy Baubigny (for Toulon, 43’ – head contact)

Teams:

Leinster: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Harry Byrne, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jack Conan, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tom Clarkson, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Jerry Cahir, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Alex Soroka, 20 Scott Penny, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne

RC Toulon: 15 Melvyn Jaminet, 14 Gaël Dréan, 13 Nacho Brex, 12 Jérémy Sinzelle, 11 Setariki Tuicuvu, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Ben White, 8 Mikheil Shioshvili, 7 Charles Ollivon, 6 Junior Kpoku, 5 David Ribbans (captain), 4 Corentin Mézou, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Teddy Baubigny, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Daniel Brennan, 18 Beka Gigashvili, 19 Matthias Halagahu, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Esteban Abadie, 23 Mathis Ferté

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)